Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eye Shadow Palette

When I first found out that there was going to be a collaboration between one of my favourite make up brands and Gwen Stefani I was extremely excited, not least because it would mean that a new Urban Decay Eye Shadow Palette would be making its way onto the scene and into beauty bloggers wish lists everywhere.

Growing up I was always a fan of Gwen Stefani, her quirky unique, yet polished appearance has always been something which remained in my mind. Whilst not all of her music has been to my taste over the years I will always be a huge fan of No Doubt and Don’t Speak; it’s a 90’s classic! Going back to the make up of course Gwen has always looked immaculate. Her make up has always remained relatively neutral over the years, although sharp eyebrows, a bold lip and black liner have for me been her trademark.

The Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eye Shadow Palette was something that I thought long and hard about buying because it does contain a lot of neutral shades. Of course being a neutral lover I am not in short supply of those, although the added element of a couple of bright colours did have me worrying slightly as I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make use of them. Having said that the whole presentation of this palette and indeed the quality which I knew would be present, having used Urban Decay for a while now was the deciding factor for me.

In terms of packaging this is most certainly one of my all time favourites to date, if not my favourite. This for me just embodies everything about Gwen from the black, white and gold casing to the shade choices and names given to them. The palette is quite a sturdy little thing too, it is very well made and robust, although I won’t be testing its durability any time soon what with it being a limited edition and all.

There is quite the array of shades within the palette, all named after various songs or meaningful things to Gwen herself. Out of the fifteen eye shadows in the palette there are twelve which are brand new to Urban Decay, making it a must for any die hard fan. As you can see below most of these follow the nude spectrum, there are some beautiful shades for highlighting the brow bone and inner corner such as Blonde, whereas I adore Punk and Anaheim when creating a more sultry smoky eye. The quality of the eye shadows is always something I look for in a palette, especially when you’re paying more money. Overall I have to say that this one does not disappoint.

There are a couple of shades which are more sheer than I had imagined, Baby and Pop being an example of that, however all of the others are fantastic and have very good colour pay off; particularly Blackout and Danger.

Overall I would have to say that this gets a big thumbs up from me. At £40 I truly do think that this is great value for money as you are getting a rather great set of versatile eye shadows all enclosed within a stunning palette. This palette would make a wonderful introduction to the brand, not least a pretty awesome gift for any Gwen Stefani fan.